Detailed biography: Johann Friedrich Ranke was born in Zangenberg near Zeitz (Germany) in 1821. Since 1841 he was lecturer for teachers and publised several writings on eary childhood pedagogy including „Christian songs for school and home“ (1860) and „Sacred and Secular Songs“ (1869). In 1874 he became director of the Oberlinhaus in Babelsberg near Potsdam, where health reasons forced him to stop his professional and writing activities since 1878. He died in Goslar in 1892.
